Child Abduction – Report to Hague Permanent Bureau

Effect of Gender Preference in Israel in Hague Abduction Cases

Below you will find our report to the Hague Convention on the civil Aspects o International Child Abduction exposing Israel's secret: Because of the statutory preference of women (the tender years presumption), and the general male-bashing atmosphere in Israeli family courts, Israel has become a safe haven for female child abductors. The tender years presumption, and the radically feminist judicial training of judges, Israeli judges will do anything to deter men from prosecuting Hague Convention cases. Be prepared that if you are a male father filing a Hague Convention case in Israel, the Israeli Court will require you to come to Israel to testify, even if it is not required according to the Convention. The Israeli family Court will cooperate with the rabbinical court and an order for your arrest will be issued ex parte. A hefty bond will be required for you to get out of the country (up to $500,000). You will need to translate everything you have into Hebrew by a certified notary public (triple of quadruple the customary translation charges). You will be required to produce every email, correspondence, bank statement, leases, licenses, air tickets and receipts to disprove the argument that either the child never "legally" resided overseas, or that you consented to the abduction, and in the odd chance that you win, the Court will require you to pay the abductor and the children's airfare, pay six months of child support in advance, pay for the abductor's accommodation overseas for six months in advance, and after two appeals, perhaps the child will return to his or her country of habitual residence.

Be prepared that a "normal" child abduction case in Israel will cost you about $65,000 (and upwards) as follows: 50,000 NIS ($15,000) for the attorney fees in family court, 20,000 NIS ($5,700) for the attorney fees in District Court and 20,000 NIS ($5,700) for the attorney fees in filing or defending a "bara" (leave to appeal) to the Supreme Court. Also, 20,000 NIS ($5,700) in bonds, 5,000 NIS ($1,400) in translations, $2,000 traveling to Israel "to testify", 50,000 NIS ($15,000) defending the arrest warrant that you will get, as well as the divorce complaint, the child support complaint and equitable distribution complaint that will be served upon you as soon as you arrive in Israel, and if you win you will pay air fare, child support and accommodation for six months (about $14,000). Allow $2,500 for miscellaneous.

Also, be prepared for the fact that the family court will appoint a state social worker ("Pkidat Saad" or "Pakas") to "investigate". The social worker is trained with radically feminist ideology, and if you are a male, she hates you without knowing you. The social worker will advise the kidnapper how to file a false domestic violence against you, when you arrive in Israel to testify. You will need to spend time at a police precinct and hire a lawyer to defend the criminal prosecution. Be advised that in Israel no evidence is required to launch a criminal prosecution against a man, other than the woman's say-so.

You may also need to hire a psychiatrist to prove that you do not pose a threat to your children, and that the children will not be traumatized by seeing you. This is another concept that Israeli family court judges love to "discuss". Often the woman argues that because of a period of no-contact, the children are at risk of being traumatized simply by seeing their biological fathers. The social worker will write that it is better that the children do not have contact with the father, than be traumatized by seeing the father. The Judge will so order it. You will need to amass volumes of research about the benefits of father-children relationship, and even then the judge will fire back at your lawyer sarcastic remarks against you.

Finally, be careful of any mediation or amicable solutions in the context of Hague Convention cases filed in Israel. Recent case law from the Supreme Court/High Court of Justice (Judge Edna Arbel) provides that the mere agreement to negotiate can be interpreted as consent or acquiescence to the abduction. This concept offends common sense and the general rule that willingness to negotiate can not be used against the person so negotiating, yet in the current atmosphere of judicial male bashing, anything is possible. Technically, pending disposition of the case, you are entitled to child access by electronic means (Skype). The attorneys for the wife will probably lie for her that she doesn't have a computer, almough in all likelihood she corresponds with them via the same "non-existent" computer.

REPORT OF THE COALITION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILY ISRAEL TO THE PERMANENT BUREAU OF THE HAGUE CONFERENCE ON THE 1980 CHILD ABDUCTION CONVENTION SPECIAL COMMISSION, PART II THE HAGUE, JAN 25, 2012

I. INTRODUCTION

CCFISRAEL.ORG monitors men’s rights in Israel. Israel is a jurisdiction where discrimination in favor of women is statutorily presumed. As a result, female abductors enjoy judicial sympathy. Israel has become almost a safe haven for female abductors. There are practical and substantive obstacles associated with Israel’s compliance with the Hague Convention.

In particular, Israel violates the Hague Child Abduction Convention in these ways: there is a high risk that engaging in mediation will be interpreted as consent to the act of abduction, compulsion of the left behind victim to travel to Israel for purposes of testimony without assurances that the father can leave the country safely, judicial ambushes by issuance of arrest warrants and ne èxeat orders against the left behind person coming to testify, high cost of litigation (e.g., requiring notarized translations to Hebrew), high costs of appeal bonds, deliberate imposition of unaffordable and unconscionable costs upon the winning left behind parent (pay the abductors airfare, pay 6 months of child support and pay six months of separate residency in the country of return). We are writing to alert the Hague Conference of a pattern of decisions and judicial conduct in Israel indicating the Israeli Judiciary’s refusal to comply and enforce the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, when the taking parent is a female.

The judgments and judicial conduct which favor female taking parents are “inspired” by the fact that Israel is the last country in the Western World that maintains statutory discrimination against men in family courts, and in particular the statutory presumption that favors automatic custody awards with mothers, even if they commit the crime of abduction. Judges in Israel simply can’t hide their sympathy to female abductors. The three abduction cases described herein should be disseminated to all experts in the area, both as a warning that Israeli Judgments are contaminated by statutory discrimination, and as a tool in the preparation of new model international guidelines.

It appears that the Courts in Israel deliberately frustrate the purpose of the Hague Convention by falsifying facts, inventing interpretations of the Convention that defy common sense, and imposing tremendous financial burdens to the enforcement of the Convention. These are material deviations from the clear language and spirit of the Convention.

We are asking that our letter be brought to the attention of future sessions of the follow up Malta Process and Special Commissions, and be disseminated to the readership of the Permanent Bureau’s publications. It is vital to tackle the obstacles which Israel is creating in refusing to enforce the Convention against the background of the statutory Tender Years Presumption, which is ideologically shared by almost all Judges of the Family Court, and Rabbinical Court in Israel. It has yielded a batch of decisions that has made Israel a safe haven for female abductors.

II. Risks Associated with “Mediating” Hague Convention in Israel

At this juncture, based on the Special Commission on the practical operation of the 1980 and 1996 Hague Conventions (1-10 June 2011)Report’s endorsement ofdrafting a Guide to Good Practice on Mediation under the 1980 Convention, We are writing to alert the Permanent Bureau of special precautions that should be highlighted in the Mediation Guide which will be published.

In one such case, Ben Haim v. Ben Haim, We are a U.S. resident. The mother abducted a daughter from New Jersey, the State of habitual residence, to Israel. The case reached Israel’s highest Court, the Supreme Court of Justice (“SCJ”) in Jerusalem. By opinion of Judge Edna Arbel, Judge Arbel overturned two lower Court’s judgments directing the return of the child. Judge Arbel’s reasoning was that because, the left behind petitioner, agreed to participate in negotiations to amicably resolve the Hague Convention dispute, even though the negotiations were thwarted by the abductor-mother, who refused to sign, the father’s initial willingness to “negotiate” constitutes an act of acquiescence to the abduction. The Judge was joined by another Judge, Judge Meltzer, and upon motion to reargue, Judge Rivlin reaffirmed Judge Arbel’s Judgment denying the return, again based on some theory of consent to abduction via incomplete “negotiations”.

Judge Arbel’s Judgment was heavily criticized by the Superior Court Judge of New Jersey’s Superior Court, Bonnie Midzol. Yet, the Israeli decision, especially since it originates from the highest Court in that Country, can serve as a major obstacle to any idea to introduce mediation under auspices of the Permanent Bureau. It is enough that one parent agrees to “mediate” abduction, and the other parent uses Judge Arbel’s Judgment as legal basis of “acquiescence”, to destroy entirely the concept of mediating international abductions.

We therefore ask you to publish Judge Arbel’s Judgment in the widest amount of circulation possible, including The Judges' Newsletter on International Child Protection, so that as many experts as possible can comment on the dangers Judge Arbel created to the safe return of children to their home state, if the left behind parent agrees to “mediation”, and to the entire concept of international mediations. In fact, it is crucial that all practitioners worldwide be warned never to consent to any mediation or negotiations in Israel, since this may destroy their chances in Court.

It is important to note that “mediation” or “negotiations” in the context of Hague Convention disputes cannot occur in coercive circumstances. In the case of Israel, coercive circumstances are engrained into the Judicial system, and they negate any possibility of effective mediation, as follows: (a) Family Court Judge’s refuse video-conferencing, and thus coerce the left behind parent to endure the costs of travel, (b) the left behind parent is threatened by the Judge that unless he appears in the Court and is cross examined, his petition will be dismissed, (c) once in Israel, the Rabbinical Court steps in and traps the father with ex parte orders of arrest, and ex parte orders of ne exeat, “to secure appearance in prospective divorce proceedings”, thereby kidnapping the father together with the child in Israel, (d) and the Family Court adds “interim child support” during the pendency of the Hague Convention proceedings, thereby forcing the left behind parent to support the kidnapper and help her establish toots in the destination country.

These techniques are influenced by a radical feminist approach that is prevalent in Israel, pursuant to which custody morally belongs with the mothers, whether they committed abduction, or not. These techniques negate a possibility of “free will” mediation, and they should be discussed in future panels. Therefore, future sessions on Principles for the establishment of mediation structures in the context of the Malta Process(Prel. Doc. No 6) should learn from the negative experience that Israeli Judges have demonstrated.

III. Israel’s departure from common rules of interpretation

The Malta Process emphasized “the need for the courts in the different countries to apply common rules of jurisdiction (competence), and to be prepared to recognize foreign decisions on the basis of those common rules. This was a Conclusion both at the First and Second Malta Conference, and it really is a key concept for improving judicial co-operation. (Duncan Speech, The Judge’s Newsletter, XVI, Spring 2010)”. In this context, recent trends in Israeli Abduction decision should be reviewed, and condemned in the next Malta Process meetings.

In particular, the case of Nachom v. Nachom serves as an example. In order to accommodate the Tender Years Presumption, which statutorily awards childrens’ custody with mothers, Judges in Israel find every imaginable excuse to deny Hague Convention applications, by interpreting the Convention in ways designed to frustrate the Convention, and make it difficult, if not impossible to litigate. While most Courts use a simple test of physical presence in the left behind jurisdiction to determine the abducted child’s pre-abduction “habitual residence”, Israel has moved away from the test of physical location of the child, and instead it now applies the “intended habitual residence of the mother”.

In Nachom case, a child was abducted from California, to Israel when he was two months old. The child was born in California and is a U.S. citizen. The Judge (Sarit Golan, Ashdod Family Court), found that the child lacked any habitual residence, and by way of circular legal acrobatics equated the child’s habitual residence, with that of the mother. Since the mother lived 11 months in California prior to the abduction, the Judge conducted a full blown evidentiary hearing on the question of whether the mother intended to continue to reside there. Based on the abducting mother’s self serving “intention to return within two years”, Judge Sarit Golan found that neither she nor the child had habitual residence in the United States. Moreover, the Judge Sarit Golan refused the father’s (a U.S. citizen and resident for 20 years) request to be cross examined by videoconference and demanded that he fly from California to Israel, so that he can be cross examined. Upon his arrival, a legal trap was set up for him, as the Rabbinical Court issued an ex parte ne exeat conditioned on a $500,000 bond, allegedly to secure his appearance for future divorce/dissolution of marriage hearings.

Mr. Nachom is still trapped in Israel because of inability to post the outrageous $500,000 bond. The Appellate Court’s proceedings affirmed Golan’s Judgment, after demanding an exorbitant bond to secure the woman’s Court fees on appeal.

The same thing happened in the Ben Haim v. Ben Haim case. Ben Haim’s application for a videoconference in lieu of physical presence was denied. Upon arrival in Israel, the Rabbinical Court issued ex parte orders of arrest and ne exeat injunction for 90 days. Ben Haim managed to escape Israel due to failure to renew the ne exeat injunction. In retaliation, the Rabbinical Court issued a ne exeat on Ben Haim’s father.

The same thing happened in the Cohen v. Cohen case (Beersheva Fam.Ct 13913-02-11). A mother abducted two children from Marbella, Spain to Israel. The left behind father filed a Hague Convention petition with the Beer Sheva Family Court in February 2011. The Court, Judge Geula Levin, denied the father’s request to testify via videoconference. On appeal, the order denying the videoconference was affirmed, and the left behind father was ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $2,100. Judge Geula Levin ordered the left behind father to pay interim child support in the amount of $570 per month, pending disposition of the Hague Convention proceedings. Trial was scheduled for May 2011. Upon Mr. Cohen’s arrival in Israel to testify he was arrested for 24 hours by order of the Rabbinical Court, and three guards escorted him to Court from detention. In addition, a ne exeat order was already signed ex parte, also by the Rabbinical Court. Eventually on September 2011, Judge Geula Levin denied the Hague Convention Petition based on latches of 9 months (from abduction to the filing of a complaint), and did not accept the left behind father’s explanation that Legal aid in Israel was on an extended strike, that private attorneys charged $35,000 which he could not afford, and that he had hopes that the woman would still change her mind. The Judge “found” that failure to sue immediately, “like extinguishing a fire” constitutes acquiescence. (The Convention itself allows one year to sue).

In the Nachom case, the Court denied the Hague Petition based on interpreting habitual residence on an amorphous test “parental intended residence”, and not physical presence before the abduction. A similar attempt was made in Cohen, and although “intent” (in the context of habitual residence), was fully and needlessly litigated, this defense was dismissed. The Israeli Central authority has responded to your 2006 Questionnaire already warned about this practice: “In the past Israeli Courts have normally viewed habitual residence as a factual physical situation based on the location of the child…regardless of the parents’ future plans or intentions. However, in recent case there has on occasion been a shift to the “parental intentions” test”. The Israeli Central Authority should issue public statement cautioning judges that Parental intentions test is not in line with good practice, and it creates deviations from a unified worldwide approach. Moreover, it is simply a feministic tool to aid women in defending abduction cases by claiming that their residence overseas was merely transitory or somehow does not count. Still, this new “test” is always useful to women abductors and not even one man benefitted from it, to our knowledge.

The three cases, from different parts of the country (Ben Haim in Nazareth in the north, Nachom in Ashdod, South of Tel Aviv, and Cohen in Beer Sheva, the southern district) show common trends in Israel that are heavily influenced by judicial discrimination in favor of women, and Israel’s strong reluctance to award custody to men, or to award joint custody.

Fathers whose children are abducted to Israel have learned that if the Court demands their appearance in person in Israel, they will not be able to leave the Country, since the Rabbinical Court will trap them with a ne exeat injunction, together with an ex parte order of arrest based on failure to pay child support for the abducted child or to secure appearance in the divorce proceeding itself. As a result, left behind fathers may simply abandon the Hague Convention petition, since traveling to Israel poses a risk to their safety, liberty and property.

Still even when a court is inclined to order the return of a child to a left behind father, the Courts in Israel impose financial burdens that are unparalleled elsewhere. In the case of Ben Haim v. Ben Haim, the lower Court Judge, at the Nazareth Family Court, while he found that the abducted minor must return to New Jersey, same Judge took the liberty to impose financial conditions, including (a) payment of the kidnapper’s airfare to U.S., (b) prepayment of rental accommodation for six months, (d) as well as prepayment of child support to the kidnapper for six months after the return. Such prepayments amount to close to $20,000, which a father must lay out in order to take the child back home.

These financial conditions make it impossible for middle class fathers to afford the return of their children to the Origin State. It also unfairly places the burden of rectifying the results of the crime of abduction, on the victim of abduction. Again, these “techniques” of discouraging fathers from prosecuting their rights under the Hague Convention are products of radical pro-feminist ideation that is supported by Israel’s Tender Year Presumption. The international community should be alerted promptly of Israeli Judiciary, and in particular Judge Edna Arbel’s scorn of the Hague Convention, when the victim us a father.

See also, S.v.S. 58309/05 (Fam.Ct, Tel Aviv), where the left behind father in France was able to win a return order, but was required to prepay €10,000 for the abductor’s living expenses and prepay rental expenses in France for the duration of the trial in France. A few years earlier, in D.Y. v. D.T. 621/04 (Fam.App.), again, a United States left behind father was ordered to prepay $6,000 plus rent an apartment for the wife.

The financial conditions imposed by Israeli Court as conditions to implementing safe return of children actually frustrate the purpose of the convention. The Central Authority must educate the Judiciary in Israel that these practices are not in line with the Convention, and appear on its face, spiteful. Needless to say, that the Israeli Central Authority does not translate to Hebrew its own Questionnaire or the Good Practice Manuals. As result, each subsequent Court raises the bar in creating more and more obstacles.

V. Notes regarding Neulinger & Shuruk v. Switzerland

The Working Committee on the Malta Process expressed concern about the ECHR’s Judgment in Neulinger & Shuruk v. Switzerland. The Grand Chamber refused to order the return of Shuruk’s child from Switzerland to Israel. The Chamber cited the mother’s rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights for family life, which may be abridged if Neulinger was compelled to return to Israel. This case created a rift between Council of Europe member states, where taking parents are entitled to the extra protection under Article 8, and the rest of the world, where Article 8 doesn’t apply.

We wish to take this opportunity to explain how the Neulinger & Shuruk came about, and the explanation does not portray Israel’s Judiciary in a positive light. At the time, the permanent Bureau was ready to state that ECHR was unfairly exercising jurisdiction with extraterritorial reach, and impact beyond the States that comprise of the Council of Europe. However, from the Court’s final Judgment we understand that the kidnapper was able to present a myriad of decisions from family Court, including orders of protections, orders of removal of Mr. Shuruk from the marital home, orders of supervised visitations in a “contact center”, and a pile of negative social workers’ reports against the left behind Israeli father.

To the European Judges, the collection of documents from the Israeli family Court appeared to reflect negatively on the father, as potentially dangerous. However, the European Judges did not know that in Israel, all divorce cases look exactly the same. It is common that every divorce case starts with bogus and fictitious domestic violence charges, which require no evidence whatsoever. It triggers an immediate removal from home by police orders. At family Court women receive automatic interim custody (because of the Tender Year Presumption), and the men are sent to interviews by State appointed social workers. The social workers are trained to treat every man, however mild, educated or dignified, as a potential aggressor and abuser. It results in negative social worker reports and usually automatic reference to a supervised contact center. This is the face of almost every divorce case in Israel, and Shuruk was no different from the rest. This is again one of the legacies of Judge Edna Arbel, who used to be the State Attorney General, and at the time, she drafted Attorney General Guideline 2.5 which immunes all women from prosecution for false police reports. It is therefore essential for the international community to put Neulinger & Shuruk in perspective.

The only risk that Neulinger & Shuruk poses is for future Israeli fathers, because the corrupt pro-mothers system of Israel will enable every female kidnapper to arm herself with similar paperwork (orders of supervised visitations etc), and defend the abduction proceedings in the same manner Nuelinger did.

VI. RELOCATION

The international community should be aware that in jurisdictions, such as Israel, where women are statutorily preferred, women are almost always successful in launching relocation petitions, thereby violating the fathers’ rights for child access. By contrast, it is impossible for men to relocate with children, because physical custody (interim, and almost always permanent) is given to women. This is a result of the tender years presumption and the general preference of women in Israel in every respect of family court decisions.

VII. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Judge Arbel’s recent decision in Ben Haim v. Ben Haim should be disseminated to international practitioners, since it poses an obstacle to development of mediation in abduction contexts. Moreover, attention should be paid to the coercive circumstances in Israel, which set traps, and physically imprisons the left behind fathers, when they come to testify.

The same applies to the subjective “intended residence test”, and to the practice of awarding interim child support to kidnappers, the orders of ne exeat against the left behind fathers, and the financial conditions to return, (prepayment of air fare, accommodation and child support). A new questionnaire should be requested from the Israeli Central Authority, as it appears to falsely describe the deviations of Israeli Courts from common international practices. As to the current which-hunt against men in divorce in Israel, we respectfully refer you to the English web pages at www.ccfisrael.org, and to CCF’s report to the UN’s Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights (enclosed).